Vote with facts and figures, not fiction and falsehoods

It is a no brainer that anyone who votes should be familiar with the facts and figures as they relate to any issue. But sadly, a large number of the population will just take what they are told as the truth. They don’t question it and they don’t take the time to research and find out if what they were told was true.

The truth is a sobering thing. A lot of people can’t handle the truth. Many times, they react to the truth with anger. Most times they have no real rational response and they simply retaliate with angry rhetoric. But the fact remains that the truth is the truth no matter how much we may disagree with it. Let’s look at a few classic examples.

FACT: The unemployment rate is not 4.7%. Now many of you may believe that number because the government told you that’s what it is. Every month, the unemployment rate has magically seemed to fall no matter what the jobs report says. So, let’s do some simple math. The population of working class adults age 15 to 64 in the U.S. is approximately 205 million people. Now according to Bureau of Labor statistics the number of people of working age not participating in the workforce is currently 92 million people. So 92 divided by 205 gives us 44%. Now if 44% of the adult working population is “not” working, how can anyone believe the unemployment rate is 4.7%? These are the facts and figures, folks. This should make you angry.

FACT: Global warming/climate change is not getting worse. Oh, the governments doom and gloom crowd will tell you that that’s not true. Their scientists predicted in the 1980’s that New York would be underwater by the year 2015. Guess what? I just checked and Manhattan is still well above sea level. The facts from actual satellite images and on site observation shows that North and South Pole ice is actually “increasing,” not decreasing as you are told. Makes you wonder why they would do that huh? Here is a hint; it has to do with money. The so called “Carbon credits” that they wanted you to buy do nothing for the environment they only line someone’s pocket. Al Gore made over $50 million dollars on that scam.

FACT: The largest employer in Morris County and dozens of smaller companies are dependent on the Oil & Gas industry for their livelihood. Every one of those jobs depends on Oil companies being able to drill and produce oil and gas products. Now, can anyone guess which Political party supports the Oil & Gas industry? The answer is the Republican Party. And the Republican Party has supported that industry for more than 50 years. Here is another interesting tidbit. Guess which p o l i t i c a l party votes against the Oil & Gas industry every chance they get? Bingo, the Democrat party. Anybody remember the Keystone pipeline project? Yeah, it got shot down because they didn’t want it to succeed. How about the bans on drilling in the Gulf and the Atlantic Coast. Yeah, that was their doing also. Everything I just said is true. So taking that into consideration why do so many of our citizens vote Democrat if that party does not support the industry that a large number of our citizens in this area depend on for a living? That’s a question I have been asking for more than 25 years. Democrats tell voters that they support labor. I’ll tell you what supports labor in East Texas: orders for Oilfield pipe. Oh, by the way Hillary Clinton hates big oil, too. Any questions?

These are only a few examples of exactly what I referred to in the title of this column. I could give you at least a dozen more but the point is simple. Do your homework before you vote for someone or something and base your decision on the facts and not some fictional or downright false statement from politicians or party leaders. That is the kind of thinking that has gotten us into the mess we are currently in.